Police: Bucket truck theft nets half-mile of copper wire

HANOVER TWP.  State police are looking for two men who they say used a bucket truck to steal copper wire from a Duquesne Light power line in Hanover Township.

Troopers said the men used the truck, which belonged to an Ohio cable company that employed them, to reach the lines, along Crooks School Road near Route 151 in Hanover between 3 and 4 p.m. on Dec. 18.

The men, identified by state police as Punxsutawney resident Matthew L. Christine, 30, and Seville, Fla., resident David C. MacClymont, 43, took a half-mile long stretch of copper wire worth about $8,000, police said.

A news release issued by state police in Brighton Township listed the offense as a theft, but it was not clear whether Christine and MacClymont had been charged. Courts were closed on Monday for the Christmas holiday.

The men were identified by a witness, the news release said. They are believed to have left Pennsylvania.

A similar theft occurred in Cranberry Township in June; in that case, two men removed copper wire from a Penn Power substation, knocking out electrical service to Cranberry for most of the day.

It is not known whether the Hanover Township theft had any effect on electrical service.

; Duquesne Light spokesman Joey Vallarian said in a statement: We continue to work with authorities on this case and obviously recommend that people do not take part in this dangerous practice, which puts themselves, our workers and customers at risk.

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